4 INDICTED IN EXPORT OF ARMS FROM THE U.S

Four men have been indicted on charges of illegally exporting arms from the United States, including an alleged shipment of night-vision devices to Argentina during the Falkland Islands war, the Justice Department announced today.

A 14-count indictment filed today in U.S. District Court in New York City alleged that the four men also engaged in an attempted illegal arms shipment to Poland, the shipment of arms to Europe destined for Iraq and the shipment of sophisticated night-vision equipment to West Germany for ultimate delivery to the Soviet Union.

The indictment was announced jointly by the Justice Department here and by U.S. Attorney Raymond J. Dearie in Brooklyn, where the indictment was filed.

Named as defendants in the indictment were H. Leonard Berg, 49, of New York City, Grimm DePanicis, 41, of Mount Dora, Fla.; Leon Lisbona, 60, of New York City, and Solomon Schwartz, 49, of Monsey, N.Y., plus a corporation, HLB Security Electronics Ltd., a Manhattan-based firm owned by Berg.

The indictment charges the defendants with engaging in a racketeering enterprise in connection with various other charges relating to the illegal export of arms from the United States.

The indictment stemmed from an extensive investigation by the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York and the U.S. Customs Service, Dearie said.

It superseded one that had been handed down in March 1984 against two of the present defendants, Berg and Schwartz.

The initial indictment focused solely on an alleged attempt by Berg and Schwartz to ship arms and ammunition to Warsaw, Poland. The indictment announced today concerns this alleged scheme and three additional alleged schemes to illegally export arms or other munitions to various prohibited destinations.

The indictment charges that the defendants "ran the racketeering enterprise by engaging in a series of four fraudulent schemes," Dearie said. "The purpose of the schemes was to facilitate the illegal export of various arms and munitions from the United States."

Dearie said the indictment represents "the first time that racketeering charges have been used in the government's fight against illegal arms dealers."